1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward protein-based films for forming encapsulated comestible materials, methods of forming encapsulated materials, and methods of feeding animals or humans with the encapsulated materials. Specifically, the protein-based films are derived from plant sources and allow the encapsulated materials to resist immediate microbial digestion in the stomach of the animal or human thereby facilitating delivery of the comestible material to a lower portion of the digestive tract.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been discovered that the efficacy or potency of orally ingested materials such as nutrients, supplements, and pharmaceuticals can be increased if they can be delivered to specific sites along the digestive tract of an animal or human. For example, certain nutrients are most effective when digestion occurs in the intestines as opposed to the forestomach of a ruminant animal. Various delivery systems have been proposed to delay the onset of digestion until the material reaches a specific site in the digestive tract. One such method has been to coat the material with a synthetic polymer coating. These coating materials have the drawback in that they are often not economically viable for use with certain kinds of comestible materials.
Another method has employed animal derived coating materials such as gelatin or blood meal to alter the digestive site of the encapsulated material. Currently, many vitamins are stabilized using gelatin beadlets. However, incidents involving the discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or “mad cow disease”) in cattle populations in Europe, Asia, and Canada have led to concern over the use of gelatin (a ruminant-derived protein) in human food and animal feed products.
There exists a need for a cost effective alternative to the use of gelatin or animal derived materials to stabilize comestible particles' as to alter their site of digestion in an animal or human.